Can't hit fairway with my driver

[Urrrk]

So count me as another one of those high handicappers that has trouble controlling my driver. I used to be a consistent slicer, but have recently added hooks to my tee artistry. As a result I have no damned idea where the thing is going, and am really in my best shape when I top the ball and bounce it 100-150 yards down the fairway, which sets up my a 210 yard 3 wood.

(I'd go to my 3 wood, but I seem to be yipping that off the tee as well.) Please advise.

Also whyfor when you read these articles they say a 30+ handicap is probably hitting their 5I 150 yards? I'm hitting my 8I 150 yards (and decently accurate too, when I get the luxury of playing from the short grass) Am I long for my index? Do I need to not swing as hard? What is the story here?

[ks8829]

The driver is the hardest club to hit because of the length of the club.

try the following:

1) choke up on the club even if you have to grip it down to the metal and work your way back up to the end of the handle
2) watch some video on the perfect golf swing and pick up some helpful tips
3) focus on your backswing
4) focus on a nice tempo
5) swing 70% and be smooth
6) if you are slicing more than hooking play smart and use the tee box on the left side and aim towards the left side of the fairway or rough to get it to land in the middle or right side of the fairway
7) forward press might help your consistency.
8) be postive

[Canuck]

Here's a really simple and easy way to improve your shots with the driver...and it works.

When you set up pick your target and then look and find a target about 50 yards or closer in front of you. Aim at that target with knowing where you want to hit your drive. If you can practice hitting drives over your target concistantly it will make a big diffrence and you will hit more fairways. Dont try and control your shots just step up and make a nice smooth "CONFIDENT" swing and keep your balance. You will see improvement.

[$2 Nassau]

I can barely keep my driver on the golf course, nevermind a particular fairway. My scrambling has been pretty good lately which is about the only thing keeping me from quitting the game at this point.

For me, it's always fundamentals. My alignment gets sloppy, or I get lazy with my posture. It's a constant battle and I have to constantly check this stuff while I am playing. Sometimes golf is like work.

[Leftygolfer]

Go get a lesson. I know that has helped me get over many hurtles.

Also, Hit an iron off the tee. There is no reason to hit a driver if you are hitting it both ways.

[SasQuatch<3]

Having the same problems! My driver has just been so inconsistant.. and you can tell on my score too! I think im swinging to hard and not using my body as a coil!

[sp33d]

When I start having problems driving or anything else.

I go to the range buy a big bucket of balls, and work things out. I start with the most basic things like grip, speed, and tempo. I do 1/4 swings 1/2 swings 3/4 and full until I identify what the hell I'm doing.

Most (not all) high handicappers have a really fast back swing, slow it way down. work on hitting the ball at 50% speed up to about 70% to where you are making a good connection with the ball and its going where you want.

get lessons.

[ControlJunkie]

The driver is the hardest club to hit because of the length of the club.

Good call on the video! On a different thread on here a while back, I read about Shawn Clement's videos on YouTube. I really liked his style and approach to his instructional videos. He's a little goofy, but it kinda adds to the laid-back and simplistic approach he takes on various subjects. I definitely recommend you check out a few of them!

[Urrrk]

Thanks all, good advice here. But... I am adequately lessoned, I do hit buckets of balls, with a variety of swings (full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, feet together, one handed, strong grip, weaker grip, etc. etc.) But I'm afraid the problem is mental.

Tonight, for instance, I stuck with the 3 wood, but I still wasn't hitting particularly well off the tee. My playing partners said they could see me tense up as I tried to "hold back" to a 70% swing.

I just guessing but I don't think clenching my entire body is any way to hit a golf ball.

So how do you go about getting you mind right on the tee? (I can get it right on the range, but someting isn't translating)

[HSip]

When using a driver visualize trying to hit the ball 100 yds. Force yourself to make that swing. You will be shocked how far the ball will go. Good luck

[Kingfisher]

As others have mentioned, the driver is not the most forgiving club in the bag and even tour pros don't use the driver on every driving hole.

If you're holding a 36 handicap and you can really hit your 8i 150yds, then why not just hit irons off the tee to build your confidence? A couple of 8 irons will see you within striking distance of most par 4s and 3 8 irons will see you within range of most par 5s? When you're a bit more confident, move onto hitting a hybrid or a 5W off the tee and then get used to that before moving onto a driver.

Playing off 36 you shouldn't really be expecting to hit greens in regulation anyway, so why bother killing yourself trying? You have 2 stroke allowance per hole and besides, you'll be much more positive hitting your next shot after a solid 8 iron than you would after thinning a driver 100yds?

Not only will this give you more confidence, it will also help you ball striking consistency and your handicap will come down.

[K-Man]

But... I am adequately lessoned,

How can you say you are adequately lessoned if your off 36 and hitting it left and right? If your serious about improving your golf, you need a coach. And if you think that they are not helping change your coach.

For you to say you are 'adequately lessoned' and then say you prefer to top the ball 150 meters, i think your kidding yourself.

[P3R3]

Tempo is likely an issue, work on trying a slower backswing.

[squaddie]

I'm a high-handicapper and have been doing better making straighter shots with my driver, as I was a bad slicer previously. Prior to my swing changes I would only use a 3-wood as my driver, but now I have no fear bringing out the big club.

Here's a few things I've been doing differently.

1) Club setup at address - I keep my hands center and point the club forward to face the ball, with the tee and ball aligned with my left heel. Prior to this I was addressing the ball like I would with my irons and had my hands too far forward of the ball

2) Wider turn with my shoulders, slight pause at top of the backswing, so I can...

3) Brace against my left side (picked that up from a Shawn Clement video)

4) Accelerate through the ball on the downswing. Before I was trying to power through the ball from the top of the backswing, which I think was causing me to hit over the top. Now I try to apply the power right before the club hits the ball. I don't consciously try to control when the power is triggered, but rather prevent myself from applying power to early and try to let the momentum help trigger the force to be applied.

The effect is similar to pushing someone in a swing (to borrow an analogy from Shawn Clement). You don't push hard on the person in the swing from the top, but instead when momentum is helping them along near the bottom of the swing.

5) Keep your balance throughout the swing. If you lose balance then that's a sign something fundamental is wrong and you won't make solid contact with the club face. I've been working on being more sensitive to my balance by practicing in tennis shoes instead of my golf shoes. Tennis shoes are less forgiving if your balance is not maintained during the downswing and follow-through.

Hope this helps. My driver swing still needs work but I'm a lot further along on the road to improvement than before.

[Urrrk]

How can you say you are adequately lessoned if your off 36 and hitting it left and right? If your serious about improving your golf, you need a coach. And if you think that they are not helping change your coach.

I'm 'adequately lessoned', because there's a limit to how much I can absorb, and a limit to how many swing changes I can integrate into my game. At this point I know exactly how to produce a hook or a slice. And I can correct it--on the range. But on the tee box I don't get to take smack a ball way right, note to myself "oops elbow up on that one" and then smack another ball straight. On the tee box I have to get the first one correct.

The other reason I think I am adequately lessoned, is that my coaches tell me my swing looks pretty good, now that I've made a lot of changes to it. but I haven't had this swing that long and so I haven't grooved it into my muscle memory or maybe my body is just a slow learner. But either way I don't have an identifiable tendency anymore. It's right, it's left, mostly it's high with lots of backspin, but people tell me I don't need to change that. I prefer to drive it 250 yards down the fairway, but it just ain't happening. I spend more time with the driver, but I get less for it. Stupid driver anyway. I'm going to play my seven iron off the tee.

[ControlJunkie]

Thanks all, good advice here. But... I am adequately lessoned, I do hit buckets of balls, with a variety of swings (full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, feet together, one handed, strong grip, weaker grip, etc. etc.) But I'm afraid the problem is mental.

I know this is gonna sound crazy and stupid, but lately I've been doing 2 new things that seem like they have helped. First, I take my Zune with me and listen to music while I'm on the range. I'll also have it on during practive rounds when I'm by myself. I really do think it has helped me clear my mind. I used to dwell on bad tee shots (I still do, but nowhere near as often or for as long). I've also been extremely bad about trying to do too much at one time instead of focusing on a single part of my swing and hammering it down. It seems like the muic chills me out and helps keep me focused, but not to the point where I'm over-analyzing and over-thinking things. Now, when I'm playing and I have others with me, I've caught myself humming or having a particular song in my head from when I was hitting on the range, and it kinda brings back that more relaxed mind set that I had at the range during the week... Yeah, I know, I probably need to go lay on the couch and let the shrink sort me out, but it works for me!

The second thing I've been doing lately is taking a small (as in pocket sized) black notebook with me to the course every day. I'm normally on the range Monday-Thursday/Friday and on the course Saturday and/or Sunday. On Sunday night, I'll write down what my flaws were during my rounds on the weekend, and then each day of the week, I make sure to pay special attention to those problems. The one thing that I make sure to do is to be very detailed about what the bad shot shapes looked like, what clubs were used on the bad shots, ball position, and anything else relevant. I'll also keep a quick record of tips in my book. It all consists of things I see on The Golf Fix or in Golf Digest or any other magazine. So basically, if I was slicing real bad during my weekend rounds, I go back to that book when I'm on the range on Monday, and I check out the things I had written down to overcome the slice and straighten everything back out. A lot of those tips and fixes that I write down have started to become second nature for me, and I find myself going back to my book less and less when I'm on the course.